Dallas Mavericks Blog

Rick Carlisle: Memphis is as good defensively as he’s seen in a long time

The Memphis Grizzlies are coming off an overtime win against San Antonio Friday night. What the Mavericks would like to see is that exhausting effort having an impact on the Griz defense tonight at AAC

But they aren’t counting on it.

“They’re a great defensive team – as good as I’ve seen in this league in many, many years,” coach Rick Carlisle said after the Mavericks’ shootaround this morning. “So we got to get the ball moved. If we try to come down on the strong side and play strong-side basketball, it’s going to be extremely difficult not only to score, but to get shots.”

Indeed, the Grizzlies are second in the league in points allowed, fifth in field-goal-percentage defense, tops in rebounds per game and second in steals.

When the teams played last month in Memphis, the Mavericks mustered just 82 percent and shot below 41 percent.

And as for the energy level of the Grizzlies after playing 53 minutes Friday?

“We try to play our game, either way,” Carlisle said. “Look, Memphis is not that old a team, so it may not be that big a factor. But we want to get the ball up the court and get it moved to the weak side as much as possible and get them moving around. If they lock into you on the strong side, they’ve got great individual defenders and a good team defense.”

As O.J. Mayo added: “It doesn’t matter if they’re coming off a back-to-back or with two days off. We need a win.”